Irene and I first visited Volt, the restaurant that began Bryan Voltaggio’s culinary empire, to celebrate the 38th anniversary of the day we met, and since then have returned many times, including to check out the tasting menu at Table 21. But that’s not the only Voltaggio restaurant we’ve experienced. I’ve been to Lunchbox, and we were both present at or near the beginning of both Family Meal and Range.

So when I got an email recently announcing that there was going to be a “Maryland Style Backyard BBQ” to celebrate Volt’s 7th anniversary. I immediately knew—I was in.

Here’s the menu that was promised …

Slowly Smoked Beef Brisket
Jamision Farm Lamb Shoulders
Coffee Rubbed BBQ Pork
Beer Can Open Book Farm Chicken
All served with complimenting traditonal BBQ sides and
produce from Big White Barn

Steamed Maryland Blue Crabs piled high
Eastern Shore Sweet Corn
Crisp Hushpuppies
Steamed Spiced Shrimp

You wouldn’t have passed it up either, right?

I alerted various local friends, and so on Wednesday night, we ended up being joined by Karen and Charlie Newton, their daughter and daughter-in-law …

… as well as a lot of other foodies.

Party on at Volt's 7th anniversary BBQ celebration!

A video posted by Scott Edelman (@scottedelman) on Aug 12, 2015 at 4:25pm PDT

I started the night with a spicy sausage and baked beans …

… but was soon seduced, as I so often am, by the sight of a brisket being carved.

And good brisket it was, accompanied by fried pickles (nice and cripsy), and white bread.

One station over were the ribs, served with potato salad.

Starting to feel like a barbecue, right?

But wait (as they say in the commercials), there’s more! As we sat at a table in what’s usually Volt’s parking lot, a server came by delivered us this tray—

Look closely and you’ll see steamed Maryland blue crabs and spiced shrimp, Eastern Shore sweet corn, and hush puppies. Plus a wooden mallet, or course. And once we devoured it all … along came a second tray!

Even so, the corn was so good, we needed a little more …

After that, I was off to hit the final three stations, first to grab some Chicken with masa, mole, and crema …

… followed by a taco with salsa and curtido.

I never did snap a picture of the biscuit sliders stuffed with lamb, so those you’ll just have to imagine. And they were gooooood.

After all that, the desserts started coming out, beginning with my favorite from Family Meal—the banana butterscotch parfait.

Next came two kinds of ice cream cookie sandwiches. First up, raspberry ice cream with oatmeal raisin cookies …

… followed by vanilla ice cream within chocolate chip cookies.

And as the celebration wound down, out came one final bite—a s’mores pop which my wife and I nibbled at dusk

Does Bryan Voltaggio know how to throw a party or what?

It wasn’t just the food that made the party, but the joy as well. Do you know how many restaurants fail in their first year? As I tried to remember the number while talking with chefs Graeme Ritchie and Scott Muns (50%? 60%?), Ritchie gave the brutally honest answer—most of them.

Which is why not just the guests, but the entire staff as well, seemed so happy. To have lasted seven years in this business is monumental.

And it turned out there was a coda to our evening, because the following morning, as I skimmed the latest issue of Esquire, I found this.

Which, I guess, was the universe’s way of telling me that you can never have too much Bryan Voltaggio.